Cartel Office agrees with Drillisch-Übernahme by 1 & 1

Cartel Office approves Drillisch takeover – The cartel office has agreed to take over the mobile phone provider Drillisch through United Internet, the group behind 1 & 1. If the shareholders also have no concerns, the takeover is nothing more in the way.

1 & 1 takes over Drillisch

In the middle of May 2017, United Internet and Drillisch announced that they would cooperate in the future. The 1 & 1 mother United Internet wants to take over the mobile phone provider by the end of the year and with it a strong fourth force in the German telecommunications market create.

In the long term, the synergies should lead to a positive development. For the year 2020 both companies plan an economic success of about 150 million euro, in the year 2025 this is already at 250 million euro annually. Until the takeover takes place, however, some hurdles still have to be overcome.

Kartellamt agrees to take over Drillisch

On the one hand, the cartel office must agree and confirm that it has no reservations about the takeover. According to Drillisch, this has now happened, the agreement of the cartel office lies with the two companies. “The Federal Cartel Office has today released the planned total transaction of the two companies without restrictions,” states.

The successful merger, which was initiated at the end of the year, now only stands in the way of the Extraordinary General Meeting at which the Drillisch shareholders are asked for their opinion on the takeover. If these also agree, the transaction will be completed in a few months. The Annual General Meeting has terminated Drillisch on 25 July 2017.

For Drillisch and United Internet customers does not change for the time being, however, the takeover could have an impact on the offer design, for example at 1 & 1.